“What happens when suddenly people attack the integrity of the electoral process? Well, you actually need to have knowledge then because otherwise you are defenseless.  If you know how elections work and how in many countries it's technically almost impossible to rig the election, then you will be protected against disinformation.” International IDEA's Head of Communications Alistair Scrutton talks to Alberto Fernandez Gibaja, Head Digitalization and Democracy about all issues related to...

International IDEA’s Anna Dziedzic spoke to Dr Yu Jie Chen to hear her reflections on the 2024 Taiwanese elections. They discuss the implications of the new status quo – in which neither of the two major parties hold a majority of legislature seats – and the increasingly sophisticated ways that Beijing seeks to influence Taiwan’s elections. Dr Yu Jie Chen is an Assistant Research Professor at Academia Sinica in Taiwan and an Affiliated scholar of the US-Asia Law Institute of New York...

The 'Global State of Democracy 2023 Report – The New Checks and Balances' highlighted that there are trends of contraction around the world, but also bright spots of hope. A day after International IDEA’s #GSoD2023 Global Launch event, Marcus Brand, Head of International IDEA’s Myanmar Programme talked to Kunthida Rungruengkiat, Director of the Progressive Movement Foundation about the state of democracy in Thailand. Is Thailand an example of contracting democracy? Is it even a democratic...

Drawing from the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic the LEGITIMULT (Legitimate Crisis Governance in Multilevel Systems) project  aims to identify a model of political legitimate crisis governance that takes into account the interplay between international, national, regional and local governments and institutions. Its guiding research question “Which conditions contribute to democratically legitimate crisis governance?” will allow governments and policy makers to better face the crises of the...

Hace 45 años de que la tercera ola de la democracia bañara las costas de América Latina. Se perciben grandes avances, y hoy las elecciones competitivas son la regla en la región, a excepción de Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela.  Sin embargo, la última década ha traído un descontento generalizado con la democracia, que en ocasiones da paso a que triunfe el canto de sirenas del populismo autoritario. Este podcast explica cuáles son los retos de la democracia en la región y qué podemos hacer como...

The prevailing view is that with primarily human-generated content, democracy has suffered widespread erosion due to the proliferation of misinformation and the manipulation of specific narratives that enhance polarization. To what extent can the growth of massive content creation thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) deepen democracy erosion? What tools are at our disposal to protect democracy from AI threats?  International IDEA's Communications Officer, Yasnaya Guibert, talks to Alberto...

A conversation between International IDEA's Secretary-General, Kevin Casas-Zamora and Martin Wolf, the author of the recently published book The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism. Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, and one of the world’s most respected journalists, with his columns read eagerly by policymakers and the public around the world. He was awarded the Commander of the British Empire in 2000 “for services to financial journalism”. His latest book The...

In this joint International IDEA and Electoral Integrity Project episode on ‘Elections during Times of Crisis’, Therese Pearce-Laanela speaks with the authors of a new book ‘Elections during Emergencies and Crises: Lessons for Electoral Integrity from the Covid-19 Pandemic’.  Guests:  Toby S. James, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, the University of East Anglia, UK. Alistair Clark, Professor in Politics, the University of Newcastle, UK. Erik Asplund, Senior Programme Officer,...

The ongoing 2023 constitution-building process in Chile, and its relationship with the failed 2021-2022 constitution-building process. Guests Isabel Aninat: Dean of the Law School, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, and member of International IDEA´s Board of AdvisorsJavier Couso: Public Law Professor, Universidad Diego Portales, and Utrecht UniversityBackground Reading: https://constitutionnet.org/country/constitutional-history-chile

A conversation between International IDEA's Head of Communications and Knowledge Management, Alistair Scrutton and the authors of the recently published report "The Constitution and Laws of the Taliban 1994-2001: Hints from the Past and Options for the Future", M. Bashir Mobasher, Shamshad Pasarlay and Mohammad Qadam Shah. Guests: M. Bashir Mobasher, postdoctoral fellow at the American University’s Department of SociologyShamshad Pasarlay is a visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago...

Alison Anitawaru Cole, a lawyer in Aotearoa New Zealand, talks to International IDEA's Regional Communications Officer for the Asia and the Pacific, Billie Phillips, about the unique legal and constitutional responses to climate change in New Zealand and the influence of Māori perspectives on environmentalism and representation.  Guest: Alison Anitawaru Cole - Kaiwhakahaere Matua Māori General Manager at the Climate Change Commission (New Zealand) Background Reading: COP26 delegate: Treaty...

Calls to enfranchise people as young as sixteen are growing around the world, with some countries already adjusting the vote to align with the national age of employment, taxation, and military service.  In Australia, common consensus is lagging but some experts believe it is only a matter of time. From the sidelines of the Australian National University’s APSA conference, Billie Phillips spoke to Professor Lisa Hill about the growing movement. Guest: Professor Lisa Hill, University of...

Owen Gaffney talks to International IDEA's Head of Communications, Alistair Scrutton about  climate change, sustainability and the future of our planet, joining a lot of dotted lines between politics, technology and science. Owen Gaffney is a writer, editor, and global sustainability analyst, co-author of the recently-published Earth For All: A Survival Guide for Humanity. He has formerly worked for the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and has...

The storming of Brazil’s Congress and Supreme Court as well as the deadly anti-government protests in Peru underline the challenges facing democracy in Latin America. Why are the legitimacy of governments being questioned? What is behind the increasing political polarization of the region? And are their grounds anywhere for optimism?  International IDEA's Head of Communications and Knowledge Management, Alistair Scrutton , talks to Kevin Casas Zamora, Secretary General of International IDEA.

In this episode of Peer-to-Peer, we speak with David Towriss and Atsuko Hirakawa to learn more about compounding crises, and the effect of a Richter Scale-7 earthquake on an already vulnerable Haiti, Hurricane Tomas, and a cholera outbreak in Haiti and their postponed elections in 2010. This conversation is based on International IDEA’s case study but also Atsuko’s experience and knowledge on how Haiti’s election administrators implemented their 2016 elections after Hurricane Matthew....

International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy 2022 Report has been published. Report Editor and International IDEA's Head of Democracy Assessment, Seema Shah, provides an overview of the findings. Democracy is in decline around the world, undermined by problems ranging from restrictions on freedom of expression to distrust in the legitimacy of elections. This decline comes as elected leaders face unprecedented challenges from Russia’s war in Ukraine, cost of living crises, a looming global...

In our first episode of the new season of Peer-to-Peer, we speak with Sarah Birch and Jeff Fischer to learn more about the effect of wildfires on elections in California. The conversation is based on an International IDEA case study that focuses on the impact of wildfires on the 2016 and 2018 electoral cycles but also on the steps taken by election administrators to protecting elections. The discussion also centres on the increased vulnerability of the United States and its election cycles to...

This season, International IDEA will explore the effects of climate change in the form of extreme weather events, as well as other natural hazards, that cause both slow and rapid onset disasters, on the implementation of elections. Natural hazards can cause elections to be postponed, impact electoral operations, affect campaigns, and voter turnout. With evidence that climate change may cause extreme weather events to become more intense and common, election practitioners must begin to prepare...

Across Africa, civil society is using the courts to protect the environment from governments and companies. It is part of a wider campaign for climate justice in the continent that has brought together both elder and younger generations as well as social media. Lawyer and activist Lindlyn Moma has first-hand experience of the transformation happening on the ground. Guest: Lindlyn Moma, Human Rights Lawyer and Environmental Activist

Against a background of deteriorating informational environments, falling trust in state institutions and growing electoral result disputation, electoral processes and those who administer them are increasingly being placed under the microscope. Ensuring that the integrity of elections withstand such scrutiny and that voters remain informed and engaged falls largely to election trainers and educators, and it is their vital work that is the focus of the first series of Peer-to-Peer,...

Against a background of deteriorating informational environments, falling trust in state institutions and growing electoral result disputation, electoral processes and those who administer them are increasingly being placed under the microscope. Ensuring that the integrity of elections withstand such scrutiny and that voters remain informed and engaged falls largely to election trainers and educators, and it is their vital work that is the focus of the first series of Peer-to-Peer,...